The Lady Raiders
Texas Tech owns a 16-2 mark and 5-2 in Big 12 play. Freshman Plenette Pierson leads the Lady Raiders in scoring with a 13.7 average followed by senior Aleah Johnson at 13.2, senior Keitha Dickerson at 12.1 and junior Katrisa O'Neal at 11.9. Dickerson is Tech's top rebounder as she is averaging 9.8 boards per outing, which is first in the Big 12. Senior Melinda Schmucker-Pharies has a team-high 98 assists, while Pierson owns a team-best 12 blocks and O'Neal has 67 steals.

The Lady Raiders are shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 30.2 percent from the three-point arc and 61 percent from the charity stripe.

Scouting the Opponent
Texas enters the game with a 14-6 mark and 5-2 record in Big 12 play after winning at Baylor, 83-61, last Saturday. In that game, senior Edwina Brown led all players with 28 points, followed by freshman Alisha Sare with 18 and juniors JoRuth Woods and Carla Littleton each adding 10 points. Brown also finished with a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Asha Hill tallied eight assists. The Longhorns shot 52.5 percent (32-61) from the field, 30.8 percent (4-13) from three-point range and 65.2 percent (15-23) from the charity stripe.

On the year, Brown paces UT in scoring with a 22.9 average, while Sare has a 12.7 average per outing. Brown is the top rebounder, averaging 8.0 boards per contest and also has team highs of 119 assists and 60 steals. Littleton is the top shot blocker with 44 blocks on the year.

The Longhorns are shooting 43.2 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from the three-point arc and 69.8 percent from the free throw line.

Jody Conradt is in her 24th season at the helm of the Longhorns, establishing a record of 622-166. She is in her 30th season as a head coach with a mark of 739-228.

Series Record
It is the 58th meeting between Texas Tech and Texas with the Longhorns holding a 44-13 advantage. Tech is 13-31 in the Marsha Sharp era. Last year, Texas won the first meeting, 74-70, in Austin Feb. 6. The Lady Raiders were victorious the second time, 76-56, in Lubbock Feb. 27.

Lady Raider Head Coach Marsha Sharp
One of the most respected and well-known coaches in Texas Tech history, head coach Marsha Sharp is 422-131 in her 18th year at the helm of the Lady Raiders. The 1999 Big 12 Coach of the Year, for the second consecutive year, has led the Lady Raiders to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 10 consecutive, and five NCAA Sweet 16 appearances and the NCAA National Championship in 1993. While in the SWC, coach Sharp and the Lady Raiders never finished below third, they won or shared the last five championships, and they captured three Post-Season Classic titles. Sharp claimed her 400th career victory last season in the 83-71 win at Colorado on Feb. 24, 1999.

A 1974 graduate of Wayland Baptist University, Sharp was named the National Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994. She also reaped SWC Coach of the Year honors seven times, five consecutively.

NCAA Stats
As of games through Jan. 31, Texas Tech is third in scoring defense at 52.8. Tech is also seventh in won-lost percentage (.889) and 17th in scoring margin (15.7)

26 Straight Big 12 Wins at Home
Texas Tech currently holds a 26-game winning streak for Big 12 home games. The Lady Raiders hold a 26-1 record in Big 12 games played in Lubbock. The last time and the only Big 12 home loss came against Oklahoma State in a 78-56 loss Jan. 8, 1997.

Schmucker-Pharies Dishes Out Season High
Senior Melinda Schmucker-Pharies dished out a season-high 13 assists at Texas A&M Jan. 29, just four shy of the school record of 17 which she set back in the 1998 NCAA Tournament vs. Grambling.

Johnson Gets Career High in Assists
Senior Aleah Johnson finished with a career-high five assists in the Lady Raiders' win at Texas A&M. Her previous career high was four against Stanford during the 1998-99 season.

Ellison Swats Aggies
Sophomore Tanisha Ellison swatted a game-high three shots at Texas A&M Jan. 29 in just 18 minutes of play. The three blocks matched her career high, which she set last year vs. Texas-San Antonio.

Tarr Productive Off the Bench
Sophomore Amber Tarr came off the bench to score 10 points in 25 minutes of action at Texas A&M Jan. 29. She was 3-for-8 from the field and 2-for-5 from three-point range, while sinking two of four free throw attempts.

Looking to Move Up
Senior Melinda Schmucker-Pharies needs 39 assists to tie Krista Kirkland (89-93) for first on Tech's all-time career list for assists at 553, while junior Katrisa O'Neal needs five steals to tie Carolyn Thompson for third at 237 and 32 steals to tie Noel Johnson (91-95) for second on the Lady Raiders' all-time career list for steals at 264.

Pierson Gets Fourth Double-Double
Freshman Plenette Pierson recorded her fourth double-double of the season as she scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the win over Kansas Jan. 22.

Johnson Matches Career High
Senior Aleah Johnson matched her career high of 21 points in the victory over Kansas Jan. 22. She had scored 21 points earlier this season against Southwest Texas State.

Dickerson Dishes Out Career High Assists
Senior Keitha Dickerson dished out a career-high seven assists last Saturday vs. Kansas. Her previous high was six assists, which she had tallied three times in her career and once this season.

Block Buster II
For the second straight game, freshman Plenette Pierson has recorded three blocked shots at Kansas State Jan. 18. The three blocks is a game career high for Pierson.

Guards Keep on Going
Senior Melinda Schmucker-Pharies and junior Katrisa O'Neal played all 40 minutes in the win at Kansas State Jan. 18. It marked the sixth game in which Schmucker-Pharies has played the whole game, including one 45-minute contest, and the first for O'Neal.

Pierson Scores Career High
Freshman Plenette Pierson scored a career-high 22 points in the Lady Raiders' victory over Colorado Jan. 12. Her previous career high was 21 points, which she had scored three times this season.

Season Low TOs
Texas Tech's nine turnovers against Colorado Jan. 12 was a season low. The school record for fewest turnovers in a game is five, set back on Jan. 31, 1983 against Texas A&M.

Lady Raiders Force Record-Setting Turnovers
Texas Tech forced Santa Clara to commit 40 turnovers in the Lady Raiders' 63-54 victory Jan. 5, which set a school record. The previous record was 37 turnovers committed by North Texas on Nov. 19, 1979.

Lowest Shooting of Season
Texas Tech's 23.8 percent from the field at Iowa State on Jan. 2 was the lowest shooting percentage for the Lady Raiders on season. Tech was 15 of 63 from the field and 3 of 21 from three-point range.

Second Lowest Scoring Output
The Lady Raiders' 62-37 loss at Iowa State Jan. 3 was the second lowest scoring output by Texas Tech. Tech only scored 30 points in the loss to Wayland Baptist (106-30) in 1975-76, the school's first season of women's basketball.

Home Court Streak
The Lady Raiders currently hold a 23-home game winning streak. Tech's streak ranks them tied for fourth among NCAA Division I home-court winning streaks. Grambling currently has the number one streak at 61 games.

A Look Ahead
The Lady Raiders travel to Baylor Feb. 5 and Missouri Feb. 8 with both games starting at 7 p.m. Tech will come back to the United Spirit Arena on Feb. 12 to play Texas A&M at 3 p.m.

Lady Raiders in the Polls
Since January 20, 1992, the Lady Raiders have been ranked in the Top 25 in the Associated Press poll and/or the USA Today/ESPN poll, a total of 147 weeks. That includes this week's rankings of seventh in the USA Today/ESPN and ninth by the AP.

Upcoming Big 12 TV Schedule

Date

Game

Network

Time

Feb. 5

Missouri at Kansas State

FSN

1 p.m.

Feb. 5

Nebraska at Oklahoma

FSN

3 p.m.

Feb. 10

Texas at Kansas

FSN

7:30 p.m.

Feb. 12

Oklahoma at Oklahoma St.

FSN

1 p.m.

Feb. 12

Texas A&M at Texas Tech

FSN

3 p.m.

Feb. 13

Kansas at Nebraska

espn2

Noon

Did you know that...

there is a brother and sister who play Division I basketball and both play for teams that are ranked in the top 10. That's right, Lady Raider freshman Courtney Pastner and Arizona's senior guard Josh Pastner are brother and sister.